Thanks Luis.
Posted on 12/03/2001 7:42:54 AM PST by Luis Gonzalez
If you haven't read it yet..... I highly recommend 'John Adams' for fascinating details about the 'Birth' of our beloved country.
Well, I can sure tell you about one Scot after Culloden, Hugh Mercer.
A physician by training, he ministered to the wounded at the Battle of Culloden and then fled after the defeat. The Brits (as you undoubtedly know) went after anyone associated with the battle, and, as things got hot for young Hugh, he emigrated to the US and settled on the frontier in Pennsylvania.
He was a physician and Indian fighter, and accompanied George Washington, Dan Morgan, Daniel Boone, Horatio Gates and others with Gen. Braddock going down to defeat at Braddock's Massacre during the French and Indian War.
He loved fighting, and after the war when the PA legislature disbanded the militia (the Quaker State, remember) he moved to Fredericksburg, VA (George Washington's hometown) and was a physician and apothecary there(you can visit a reproduction of his shop today in F-burg).
With the coming of the RevWar, he was put in charge of the "Flying Battalion" (a sort of as-needed army) and was with Washington crossing the Delaware and at Trenton. He died a hero's death at the Battle of Princeton, refusing to surrender to five British soldiers who bayonetted him. You can stand in the room at the Clark Farm House on the battlefield grounds in which Brig. General Hugh Mercer died. All of the Mercer Counties in the US are named for him.
After General Washington, General Mercer is my most beloved RevWar soldier.
Sooooo...I suppose I should start calling X42...X59? (although X69 would have sounded more appropriate, but I digress) ;-)
GROAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
or would that be groin?
I'll drink to that!
it must be the irish in me....
Fascinating stuff about fascinating folks.
And, if you or any other Freepers ever get to Trenton, make sure you visit the Old Barracks in the downtown area. Fascinating for anyone with an historical interest in the greatest country to ever be.
Ah, a toast to you, Luis, I've a wee bit 'o Irish in me as well, along with some cantankerous Scot and few German "founding fathers." All did their share of toasting. The most I know of one of my gggrandfathers is that he visited his favorite saloon in PA. every night after work, only to be fetched home by one of his six daughters at dinnertime. He'd ignore the traffic, claiming he was here before the automobiles, made lime water in the basement and loved to sing....loudly, and in public. The cousins remember a loud, friendly place spilling with kids and happy conversation and plenty of homemade food.
Bless you, Luis, for passing the traditions of your family down to your own children. (^:
These Patriots set an example that many Americans seem to not know or care about re: the price of FReedom and Liberty.
Thanks Luis.
You may also want to call DAR in Washington, DC and find out if they carry a new hard-back edition, too. The phone # for DAR in DC is 202-something, something, something-1776. In the alternate, the numbers for all the DAR "State" houses end in -1776. Check with the website and there may be an on-line book store with the item ye seek.
miss print
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